_Knights Templars and Freemasons._--Can any of your readers inform me
what connexion has ever existed between the Knights Templars and the
Freemasons, as there is a degree in Freemasonry called the Knight
Templar's degree? It is supposed that the persecuted Templars betook
themselves to the Freemasons' lodges, and secured their protection. The
two orders became closely connected, the succession of Grand Masters
kept up, and the ritual of the Templars preserved. There is a French
order of Knights Templars, which claims direct succession from Jacques
de Molay, the last Grand Master of the original order; but the
Freemasons say that this is a spurious body, and that the only
legitimate claimants to representation of this once powerful order are
the Freemasons.
I shall be glad if any of your readers can give such information as may
aid my inquiries into this subject; or if they can furnish me with the
titles of such works as are most likely to aid my researches. My object
is to trace the history of the order of Knights Templars subsequent to
the persecution and death of Jacques de Molay, and to ascertain the
correctness of the statements of those who profess to be the proper
representatives of the order.